What’s Happening

New in 2018: The empty tomb Mission Match focus on helping, in Jesus’ name, to reduce the under-5 mortality rate in 40 countries as part of closing the Promise Gap.

This page will list what churches have done with their Mission Match Matching Contributions to help, in Jesus’ name, address one of the 14 causes of death in children under the age of 5 in one of 40 countries. And we hope that’s soon!

The experience of Mission Match so far is that churches are pretty creative, given the mission projects they described in their applications in the past.

Since 2002, empty tomb’s Mission Match has made Matching Contributions available to congregations for mission projects. From 2002 through 2016, congregations could apply to do mission projects they wanted to do in the U.S. or in another country, to be carried out in Jesus’ name.

That experience convinced us that congregations will apply for Matching Contributions and then also raise designated money from people in their congregations for the mission projects cited in their applications.

Now we’re looking forward to receiving applications from churches in light of the new Mission Match focus.

If congregations need ideas for projects that address one of the 14 causes of death, they might contact people on the front lines in one of the 40 countries. These might be people who are serving through their denominational connection, or who serve in a Christian mission organization. Imagine how good it would be to hear from Christians in U.S., asking, “What do you need to help, in Jesus’ name, reduce the death rate in children under 5 you are serving?”

Although the focus on reducing the under-5 mortality rate in 40 countries is a new emphasis in Mission Match as of 2018, congregations did some projects in five of the 40 countries that included interventions that might have helped reduce the rate of under-age-5 child deaths in those countries. Here are some examples.

In some of the projects, Christians from the U.S. traveled to one of the 40 countries to carry out health clinics. One church wrote about treating children for diarrhea and pneumonia, two of the biggest child-killers.

The youth in one congregation developed an education campaign they took to all the Sunday school classes in their church. They asked for donations to send vitamins with a nurse from the congregation going to one of the 40 countries. This type of intervention can be important since UNICEF has estimated that “… vitamin A taken every four to six months can reduce child mortality from all causes by as much as 23 percent, measles deaths by 50 percent and deaths from diarrhea by 33 percent.” 8

Another youth group in a different state researched the impact of clean water on preventing the deaths of children. They applied to help put a water system in a village. Clean water is another key issue in reducing child deaths, according to UNICEF, helping to control water-born diseases like cholera and Guinea worm that contribute to child deaths. 9

When Mission Match Matching Contributions are available once more (see Donate Your Drop in the Bucket to help make this happen), watch this page for reports on what churches have done with Mission Match Matching Contributions to help, in Jesus’ name, little kids in 40 countries live.